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What is OFFSHORE FINANCIAL CENTRE? What does OFFSHORE FINANCIAL CENTRE mean? OFFSHORE FINANCIAL CENTRE meaning - OFFSHORE FINANCIAL CENTRE definition - OFFSHORE FINANCIAL CENTRE explanation.
Source: Wikipedia.org article, adapted under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ license.
An offshore financial centre (OFC) is a small, low-tax jurisdiction specializing in providing corporate and commercial services to non-resident offshore companies, and for the investment of offshore funds. The term was coined in the 1980s. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) defines an offshore financial centre as "a country or jurisdiction that provides financial services to nonresidents on a scale that is incommensurate with the size and the financing of its domestic economy." Although information is still limited, there is strong evidence that OFCs captured a significant amount of global financial flows and functions both as back doors and partners of leading financial centre especially since the 1970s.
Whether a financial centre is to be characterized as "offshore" is a question of degree. Indeed, the IMF WorkingPaper cited above notes that its definition of an offshore centre would include the United Kingdom and the United States, which are ordinarily counted as "onshore" because of their large populations and inclusion in international organisations such as the G20 and OECD.
The more nebulous term "tax haven" is often applied to offshore centres, leading to confusion between the two concepts. In Tolley's International Initiatives Affecting Financial Havens the author in the Glossary of Terms defines an "offshore financial centre" in forthright terms as "a politically correct term for what used to be called a tax haven." However, he then qualifies this by adding, "The use of this term makes the important point that a jurisdiction may provide specific facilities for offshore financial centres without being in any general sense a tax haven." A 1981 report by the United States Internal Revenue Service concluded: "a country is a tax haven if it looks like one and if it is considered to be one by those who care."
With its connotations of financial secrecy and tax avoidance, "tax haven" is not always an appropriate term for offshore financial centres, many of which have no statutory banking secrecy, and most of which have adopted tax information exchange protocols to allow foreign countries to investigate suspected tax evasion.
Views of offshore financial centres tend to be polarised. Proponents suggest that reputable offshore financial centres play a legitimate and integral role in international finance and trade, and that their zero-tax structure allows financial planning and risk management and makes possible some of the cross-border vehicles necessary for global trade, including financing for aircraft and shipping or reinsurance of medical facilities. Proponents point to the tacit support of offshore centres by the governments of the United States (which promotes offshore financial centres by the continuing use of the Foreign Sales Corporation (FSC)) and United Kingdom (which actively promotes offshore finance in Caribbean dependent territories to help them diversify their economies and to facilitate the British Eurobond market). Opponents view them as draining tax revenues away from developed countries by allowing tax arbitrage, and rendering capital flows into and out of developing countries opaque. Very few commentators express neutral views.
Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), a U.S. government agency, when lending into countries with underdeveloped corporate law, often requires the borrower to form an offshore vehicle to facilitate the loan financing. One could argue that US external aid statutorily cannot even take place without the formation of offshore entities.
Offshore finance has been the subject of increased attention since 2000 and even more so since the April 2009G20 meeting, when heads of state resolved to "take action" against non-cooperative jurisdictions. Initiatives spearheaded by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) and the International Monetary Fund have had a significant effect on the offshore finance industry.

published:19 Apr 2017

views:1687

For decades, presidents, drug smugglers and criminals have used a Panamanian law firm to hide their accounts and valuables. This is revealed in documents reviewed by media partners around the world, including NDR and WDR. A total of 370 journalists from 78 countries evaluated around 11.5 million documents in the course of their reporting on the “PanamaPapers.” An anonymous source provided the data to Germany’s Süddeutsche Zeitung. The paper then shared it with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and partners across the globe, including NDR and WDR.
http://www.daserste.de

published:08 Apr 2016

views:269933

In the series „A Cup of Coffee with Rainer Münz" our expert explains economic and financial terms and topics.

What are offshore tax havens, who uses them, and how do they work? Find out in our explainer, and get the full story at icij.org/offshore.
Written by Kimberley Porteous and MarinaWalker Guevara, with Scott Higham. Animations by Sohail Al-Jamea and PattersonClark.

published:07 Apr 2013

views:177185

Get more Tips here! www.destinationtips.com
Heads of state, former heads of state, heads of government, former heads of government, relatives and associates of government officials (as well as a fair share of celebrities) have all been exposed for hiding money in offshore accounts.
Here is a list of the top 10 Biggest Tax Havens in the World.
(Ranking is based on a combination of its secrecy score and scale weighting)
#10 United Arab Emirates
One of the world’s best known tax havens or secrecy jurisdictions.It has a low-tax environment and a complex array of free trade zones with multiple secrecy facilities and lax enforcement.
A large slice of the inbound money comes in the form gold.
SecrecyScore: 77%
Tax HavenStatus: Tiny
#9 Bahrain
An island of hospitality to banks and businesses and also one of the biggest global centers for Islamic finance. There is no corporate income tax, personal income tax or capital gains tax. Bahrain also has a wide network of tax treaties with a number of developing countries.
Secrecy Score: 74%
Tax Haven Status: Small
#8 Germany
Between $2.81 to $3.38 trillion of tax exempt interest-bearing assets held by non-residents as of August 2013. Germany does not sufficiently exchange tax-related information with a multitude of other jurisdictions and despite recent progress with its anti-money laundering framework, major loopholes and many implementation deficits still exist
Secrecy Score: 56%
Tax Haven Status: Huge but Shifty
#7 Lebanon
Many members of the population are high-net worth individuals. Beirut’s offshore financial services sector has been growing at an average of nearly 12 percent per year since 2006. Lebanon’s political and military troubles over recent decades have disrupted the offshore financial sector, but it has proved astonishingly resilient.
Secrecy Score: 79%
Tax Haven Status: Small and Secure
#6 Luxembourg
The most important private banking and wealth management center in the Eurozone.
It has 143 banks holding almost $800 billion in assets, over $300 billion of which are in the secretive private banking sector and is a center of lax financial regulation and is still one of the world’s most important financial centers.
Breaking professional secrecy can result in a prison sentence
Secrecy Score: 55%
Tax Haven Status: Huge
#5 The Cayman Islands
Banking assets worth $1.4 trillion in June 2014.
Hoststing over 11,000 mutual and other funds with a net asset value of $2.1 trillion.
It has 200 banks, over 140 trust companies and over 95,000 registered companies and retains many secrecy features plus laws that can put people in jail not only for exposing confidential information, but merely for asking for it.
Secrecy Score: 65%
Tax Haven Status: Aggressively Protective
#4 SingaporeA major wealth management center, with $1.4 trillion in assets under management in 2013.
In 2014 it become Asia’s largest foreign exchange trading center.
It hosts a lack of serious reforms to its corporate secrecy regime and a lack of interest in creating public registries of beneficial ownership.
Secrecy Score: 69%
Tax Haven Status: Intentionally Blind?
#3 USAThe U.S. has led the charge in combating international tax evasion using offshore financial accounts. However, the U.S. also provides a multitude of secrecy and tax-free facilities for non U.S. residents
It's one of the few places left where advisers are actively promoting accounts that will remain secret from overseas authorities.
Secrecy Score: 60%
Tax Haven Status: Ironic
#2 Hong Kong
Hong Kong has the second largest stock exchange in Asia after Tokyo with $2.1 trillion under management in April 2015 and over $350 billion in private banking assets.
China’s control over Hong Kong has shielded it from global transparency initiatives.
It also has not signed the multilateral agreement to initiate automatic information exchange via the CRS.
Secrecy Score: 72%
Tax Haven Status: See-No-Evil
#1 Switzerland
Switzerland is the grandfather of the world’s tax havens, known to have introduced Banking Secrecy Laws as far back as 1934
However, in 2010, the US enacted the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act and the Swiss government was ultimately forced to bow to US pressure
In 2013, the US government signed a tax treaty that calls for Swiss banks to provide details on their American account holders
Secrecy Score: 73%
Tax Haven Status: BOSS

published:26 Apr 2016

views:45872

What is OFFSHORE BANK? What does OFFSHORE BANK mean? OFFSHORE BANK meaning - OFFSHORE BANK definition - OFFSHORE BANK explanation.
Source: Wikipedia.org article, adapted under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ license.
An offshore bank is a bank located outside the country of residence of its depositors, with most of its account holders being non-residents of the jurisdiction. An account held in a foreign account, especially in a tax haven country, is often described as an offshore account. Typically, an individual or company will maintain an offshore account in a low-tax jurisdiction (or tax haven) that provides financial and legal advantages, such as:
- greater privacy (see also bank secrecy, a principle born with the 1934 Swiss Banking Act),
- little or no taxation (i.e. tax havens),
- easy access to deposits (at least in terms of regulation), and
- protection against local, political, or financial instability.
While the term originates from the Channel Islands being "offshore" from the United Kingdom, and while most offshore banks are located in island nations to this day, the term is used figuratively to refer to any bank used for these advantages, regardless of location. Thus, some banks in landlocked Switzerland, Luxembourg and Andorra may be described as "offshore banks".
Offshore banking has often been associated with the underground economy and organized crime, via tax evasion and money laundering; however, legally, offshore banking does not prevent assets from being subject to personal income tax on interest. Except for certain people who meet fairly complex requirements, the personal income tax of many countries makes no distinction between interest earned in local banks and those earned abroad. Persons subject to US income tax, for example, are required to declare, on penalty of perjury, any foreign bank accounts—which may or may not be numbered bank accounts—they may have. Although offshore banks may decide not to report income to other tax authorities, and have no legal obligation to do so as they are protected by bank secrecy, this does not make the non-declaration of the income by the tax-payer or the evasion of the tax on that income legal. Following the 9/11 attacks, there have been many calls for more regulation on international finance, in particular concerning offshore banks, tax havens, and clearing houses such as Clearstream, based in Luxembourg, being possible crossroads for major illegal money flows.
"How dare citizens control monetary value beyond their state's grasp and supervision." - the perceived mentality of the state, satirically verbalized by defenders of offshore banking.
Defenders of offshore banking have criticized these attempts at regulation. They claim the process is prompted not by security and financial concerns, but by the desire of domestic banks and tax agencies to access the money held in offshore accounts. They cite the fact that offshore banking offers a competitive threat to the banking and taxation systems in developed countries, suggesting that Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)] countries are trying to stamp out competition.

Where is the easiest place to open an offshore bank account?
While there are a number of great emerging banking countries, Georgia is consistently a great place to start... even if you're a US citizen.
There are 18 banks in Georgia, with two being listed on the London Stock Exchange. You can generally bank in US dollars, euros, pounds, and Georgian lari, and you can benefit from higher interest rates.
Of course, merely opening an offshore bank account won't help you legally reduce your taxes, but it's a great start to diversifying yourself internationally.
-------
ABOUT NOMAD CAPITALIST
Andrew Henderson is the world's most sought-after consultant on legal offshore tax reduction, investment immigration, and global citizenship. He works exclusively with six- and seven-figure entrepreneurs and investors who want to "go where they're treated best".
Work with Andrew: http://bit.ly/Nomad-Capitalist-Application
Andrew has spent the last 11 years studying and personally implementing the Nomad Capitalist lifestyle, and has started offshore companies, opened offshore bank accounts, obtained multiple second passports, and purchased real estate in a more than 20 countries.
He has also spent years creating a behavior-based system that helps people get the results they want faster and with less resistance. Andrew believes that everyone can use offshore strategies to keep more of their own money, live a life of freedom, and grow their wealth faster.
About Andrew: http://nomadcapitalist.com/about/andrew-henderson/
Our website: http://www.nomadcapitalist.com
Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=nomadcapitalist
Buy Andrew's book: https://amzn.to/2QKQqR0
DISCLAIMER: The information in this video should not be considered tax, financial, investment, or any kind of professional advice. Only a professional diagnosis of your specific situation can determine which strategies are appropriate for your needs. Nomad Capitalist can and does not provide advice unless/until engaged by you.

published:21 Oct 2018

views:58570

WorldFinance interviews Dr Orlando Smith, Premier of the British Virgin Islands, about the British Virgin Islands International Finance Centre.
The British Virgin Islands is one of the most well-known offshore financial centres in the world: second to the Cayman Islands in assets under management, but first in number of businesses present. Dr Orlando Smith explains how the BVI International Finance Centre keeps the BVI an attractive jurisdiction for businesses and high net-worth individuals, and outlines the country's plans for financial services in 2013 and beyond.
For the full transcript visit http://www.worldfinance.com/videos/dr-orlando-smith-on-offshore-services-bvi-ifc-video
For more World Finance videos go to http://www.worldfinance.com/videos

published:30 Jul 2013

views:13193

What Makes A Good Tax Haven? After the banking crisis in Cyprus, what country might take its place as the next popular tax haven? David Greene talks to professor James Hines at the University of Michigan Law School to find out. http://www.npr.org/2013/03/28/175550945/what-makes-a-good-tax-haven
Haven sent - The effects of Cyprus on other tax haven
Many Russians and east Europeans have used these for the "tax-efficient" shuffling of shareholdings and profits, making creative use of Cyprus's network of tax treaties and its non-taxation of dividend payments or capital gains (except on property). These vehicles are also used for "round-tripping": moving funds abroad and then back home disguised as foreign investment that is eligible for tax breaks.
http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21574509-effects-cyprus-other-tax-havens-haven-sent
Five not-so-convincing ways that tax havens justify their existence - http://qz.com/67532/tax-havens-five-not-so-convincing-justifications/

published:29 Mar 2013

views:1445

Offshore financial secrets
Leaked investment information of more than 100,000 people, including hundreds of Canadians

United States (album)

United States is the first full length hard rock collaborative album between hard rock guitar virtuoso Paul Gilbert and singer Freddie Nelson. The collaboration has been described as a cross between Queen and Mr. Big.

In 1881, after the Confederacy purchased the Mexican states of Chihuahua and Sonora, President James G. Blaine of the United States declared war. With the help of British and French forces, the Confederate States again defeat the United States in the Second Mexican War, forcing the latter to cede a portion of northern Maine to the Canadian province of New Brunswick. After this defeat, the United States turned to Germany for military assistance and training, and the national mood of the U.S. changed to desire of revenge against the enemies that surrounded the U.S.—Canada, from where Britain invaded the U.S., and the Confederacy.

Background

In a 2006 interview with Verbicide Magazine, band members were asked if a new remix album would be produced for Demon Days as there was for Gorillaz. They answered that it was a possibility and that might involve the Spacemonkeyz again. In the same interview, they were asked if there might also be another G Sides. Again, their answer was that it might be possible. In January 2007, websites began listing a March release date for a Phase 2 B-sides album. One of the websites, musictap.net, later pushed this back to 3 April. According to Gorillaz-Unofficial, the reaction of official parties behind Gorillaz is that the release date is just a rumour for now. On 29 August, musictap.net reported that the B-side album would be titled D-Sides and would be released on 20 November. On 18 September 2007, the official Gorillaz fansite confirmed the release of the album, as well as unveiling the album artwork and track listing. D-Sides was released on 19 November 2007 in the UK and on 20 November 2007 in the U.S.

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What is OFFSHORE FINANCIAL CENTRE? What does OFFSHORE FINANCIAL CENTRE mean?

What is OFFSHORE FINANCIAL CENTRE? What does OFFSHORE FINANCIAL CENTRE mean?

What is OFFSHORE FINANCIAL CENTRE? What does OFFSHORE FINANCIAL CENTRE mean?

What is OFFSHORE FINANCIAL CENTRE? What does OFFSHORE FINANCIAL CENTRE mean? OFFSHORE FINANCIAL CENTRE meaning - OFFSHORE FINANCIAL CENTRE definition - OFFSHORE FINANCIAL CENTRE explanation.
Source: Wikipedia.org article, adapted under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ license.
An offshore financial centre (OFC) is a small, low-tax jurisdiction specializing in providing corporate and commercial services to non-resident offshore companies, and for the investment of offshore funds. The term was coined in the 1980s. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) defines an offshore financial centre as "a country or jurisdiction that provides financial services to nonresidents on a scale that is incommensurate with the size and the financing of its domestic economy." Although information is still limited, there is strong evidence that OFCs captured a significant amount of global financial flows and functions both as back doors and partners of leading financial centre especially since the 1970s.
Whether a financial centre is to be characterized as "offshore" is a question of degree. Indeed, the IMF WorkingPaper cited above notes that its definition of an offshore centre would include the United Kingdom and the United States, which are ordinarily counted as "onshore" because of their large populations and inclusion in international organisations such as the G20 and OECD.
The more nebulous term "tax haven" is often applied to offshore centres, leading to confusion between the two concepts. In Tolley's International Initiatives Affecting Financial Havens the author in the Glossary of Terms defines an "offshore financial centre" in forthright terms as "a politically correct term for what used to be called a tax haven." However, he then qualifies this by adding, "The use of this term makes the important point that a jurisdiction may provide specific facilities for offshore financial centres without being in any general sense a tax haven." A 1981 report by the United States Internal Revenue Service concluded: "a country is a tax haven if it looks like one and if it is considered to be one by those who care."
With its connotations of financial secrecy and tax avoidance, "tax haven" is not always an appropriate term for offshore financial centres, many of which have no statutory banking secrecy, and most of which have adopted tax information exchange protocols to allow foreign countries to investigate suspected tax evasion.
Views of offshore financial centres tend to be polarised. Proponents suggest that reputable offshore financial centres play a legitimate and integral role in international finance and trade, and that their zero-tax structure allows financial planning and risk management and makes possible some of the cross-border vehicles necessary for global trade, including financing for aircraft and shipping or reinsurance of medical facilities. Proponents point to the tacit support of offshore centres by the governments of the United States (which promotes offshore financial centres by the continuing use of the Foreign Sales Corporation (FSC)) and United Kingdom (which actively promotes offshore finance in Caribbean dependent territories to help them diversify their economies and to facilitate the British Eurobond market). Opponents view them as draining tax revenues away from developed countries by allowing tax arbitrage, and rendering capital flows into and out of developing countries opaque. Very few commentators express neutral views.
Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), a U.S. government agency, when lending into countries with underdeveloped corporate law, often requires the borrower to form an offshore vehicle to facilitate the loan financing. One could argue that US external aid statutorily cannot even take place without the formation of offshore entities.
Offshore finance has been the subject of increased attention since 2000 and even more so since the April 2009G20 meeting, when heads of state resolved to "take action" against non-cooperative jurisdictions. Initiatives spearheaded by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) and the International Monetary Fund have had a significant effect on the offshore finance industry.

For decades, presidents, drug smugglers and criminals have used a Panamanian law firm to hide their accounts and valuables. This is revealed in documents reviewed by media partners around the world, including NDR and WDR. A total of 370 journalists from 78 countries evaluated around 11.5 million documents in the course of their reporting on the “PanamaPapers.” An anonymous source provided the data to Germany’s Süddeutsche Zeitung. The paper then shared it with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and partners across the globe, including NDR and WDR.
http://www.daserste.de

5:06

Offshore financial centres (October 2013)

Offshore financial centres (October 2013)

Offshore financial centres (October 2013)

In the series „A Cup of Coffee with Rainer Münz" our expert explains economic and financial terms and topics.

Offshore Financial Centres (BSE)

Tax Havens 101: the High Cost of Going Offshore

What are offshore tax havens, who uses them, and how do they work? Find out in our explainer, and get the full story at icij.org/offshore.
Written by Kimberley Porteous and MarinaWalker Guevara, with Scott Higham. Animations by Sohail Al-Jamea and PattersonClark.

5:48

Top 10 Offshore Tax Havens You Can Still Stash Your Cash

Top 10 Offshore Tax Havens You Can Still Stash Your Cash

Top 10 Offshore Tax Havens You Can Still Stash Your Cash

Get more Tips here! www.destinationtips.com
Heads of state, former heads of state, heads of government, former heads of government, relatives and associates of government officials (as well as a fair share of celebrities) have all been exposed for hiding money in offshore accounts.
Here is a list of the top 10 Biggest Tax Havens in the World.
(Ranking is based on a combination of its secrecy score and scale weighting)
#10 United Arab Emirates
One of the world’s best known tax havens or secrecy jurisdictions.It has a low-tax environment and a complex array of free trade zones with multiple secrecy facilities and lax enforcement.
A large slice of the inbound money comes in the form gold.
SecrecyScore: 77%
Tax HavenStatus: Tiny
#9 Bahrain
An island of hospitality to banks and businesses and also one of the biggest global centers for Islamic finance. There is no corporate income tax, personal income tax or capital gains tax. Bahrain also has a wide network of tax treaties with a number of developing countries.
Secrecy Score: 74%
Tax Haven Status: Small
#8 Germany
Between $2.81 to $3.38 trillion of tax exempt interest-bearing assets held by non-residents as of August 2013. Germany does not sufficiently exchange tax-related information with a multitude of other jurisdictions and despite recent progress with its anti-money laundering framework, major loopholes and many implementation deficits still exist
Secrecy Score: 56%
Tax Haven Status: Huge but Shifty
#7 Lebanon
Many members of the population are high-net worth individuals. Beirut’s offshore financial services sector has been growing at an average of nearly 12 percent per year since 2006. Lebanon’s political and military troubles over recent decades have disrupted the offshore financial sector, but it has proved astonishingly resilient.
Secrecy Score: 79%
Tax Haven Status: Small and Secure
#6 Luxembourg
The most important private banking and wealth management center in the Eurozone.
It has 143 banks holding almost $800 billion in assets, over $300 billion of which are in the secretive private banking sector and is a center of lax financial regulation and is still one of the world’s most important financial centers.
Breaking professional secrecy can result in a prison sentence
Secrecy Score: 55%
Tax Haven Status: Huge
#5 The Cayman Islands
Banking assets worth $1.4 trillion in June 2014.
Hoststing over 11,000 mutual and other funds with a net asset value of $2.1 trillion.
It has 200 banks, over 140 trust companies and over 95,000 registered companies and retains many secrecy features plus laws that can put people in jail not only for exposing confidential information, but merely for asking for it.
Secrecy Score: 65%
Tax Haven Status: Aggressively Protective
#4 SingaporeA major wealth management center, with $1.4 trillion in assets under management in 2013.
In 2014 it become Asia’s largest foreign exchange trading center.
It hosts a lack of serious reforms to its corporate secrecy regime and a lack of interest in creating public registries of beneficial ownership.
Secrecy Score: 69%
Tax Haven Status: Intentionally Blind?
#3 USAThe U.S. has led the charge in combating international tax evasion using offshore financial accounts. However, the U.S. also provides a multitude of secrecy and tax-free facilities for non U.S. residents
It's one of the few places left where advisers are actively promoting accounts that will remain secret from overseas authorities.
Secrecy Score: 60%
Tax Haven Status: Ironic
#2 Hong Kong
Hong Kong has the second largest stock exchange in Asia after Tokyo with $2.1 trillion under management in April 2015 and over $350 billion in private banking assets.
China’s control over Hong Kong has shielded it from global transparency initiatives.
It also has not signed the multilateral agreement to initiate automatic information exchange via the CRS.
Secrecy Score: 72%
Tax Haven Status: See-No-Evil
#1 Switzerland
Switzerland is the grandfather of the world’s tax havens, known to have introduced Banking Secrecy Laws as far back as 1934
However, in 2010, the US enacted the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act and the Swiss government was ultimately forced to bow to US pressure
In 2013, the US government signed a tax treaty that calls for Swiss banks to provide details on their American account holders
Secrecy Score: 73%
Tax Haven Status: BOSS

What is OFFSHORE BANK? What does OFFSHORE BANK mean? OFFSHORE BANK meaning - OFFSHORE BANK definition - OFFSHORE BANK explanation.
Source: Wikipedia.org article, adapted under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ license.
An offshore bank is a bank located outside the country of residence of its depositors, with most of its account holders being non-residents of the jurisdiction. An account held in a foreign account, especially in a tax haven country, is often described as an offshore account. Typically, an individual or company will maintain an offshore account in a low-tax jurisdiction (or tax haven) that provides financial and legal advantages, such as:
- greater privacy (see also bank secrecy, a principle born with the 1934 Swiss Banking Act),
- little or no taxation (i.e. tax havens),
- easy access to deposits (at least in terms of regulation), and
- protection against local, political, or financial instability.
While the term originates from the Channel Islands being "offshore" from the United Kingdom, and while most offshore banks are located in island nations to this day, the term is used figuratively to refer to any bank used for these advantages, regardless of location. Thus, some banks in landlocked Switzerland, Luxembourg and Andorra may be described as "offshore banks".
Offshore banking has often been associated with the underground economy and organized crime, via tax evasion and money laundering; however, legally, offshore banking does not prevent assets from being subject to personal income tax on interest. Except for certain people who meet fairly complex requirements, the personal income tax of many countries makes no distinction between interest earned in local banks and those earned abroad. Persons subject to US income tax, for example, are required to declare, on penalty of perjury, any foreign bank accounts—which may or may not be numbered bank accounts—they may have. Although offshore banks may decide not to report income to other tax authorities, and have no legal obligation to do so as they are protected by bank secrecy, this does not make the non-declaration of the income by the tax-payer or the evasion of the tax on that income legal. Following the 9/11 attacks, there have been many calls for more regulation on international finance, in particular concerning offshore banks, tax havens, and clearing houses such as Clearstream, based in Luxembourg, being possible crossroads for major illegal money flows.
"How dare citizens control monetary value beyond their state's grasp and supervision." - the perceived mentality of the state, satirically verbalized by defenders of offshore banking.
Defenders of offshore banking have criticized these attempts at regulation. They claim the process is prompted not by security and financial concerns, but by the desire of domestic banks and tax agencies to access the money held in offshore accounts. They cite the fact that offshore banking offers a competitive threat to the banking and taxation systems in developed countries, suggesting that Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)] countries are trying to stamp out competition.

Easiest Country to Open an Offshore Bank Account

Where is the easiest place to open an offshore bank account?
While there are a number of great emerging banking countries, Georgia is consistently a great place to start... even if you're a US citizen.
There are 18 banks in Georgia, with two being listed on the London Stock Exchange. You can generally bank in US dollars, euros, pounds, and Georgian lari, and you can benefit from higher interest rates.
Of course, merely opening an offshore bank account won't help you legally reduce your taxes, but it's a great start to diversifying yourself internationally.
-------
ABOUT NOMAD CAPITALIST
Andrew Henderson is the world's most sought-after consultant on legal offshore tax reduction, investment immigration, and global citizenship. He works exclusively with six- and seven-figure entrepreneurs and investors who want to "go where they're treated best".
Work with Andrew: http://bit.ly/Nomad-Capitalist-Application
Andrew has spent the last 11 years studying and personally implementing the Nomad Capitalist lifestyle, and has started offshore companies, opened offshore bank accounts, obtained multiple second passports, and purchased real estate in a more than 20 countries.
He has also spent years creating a behavior-based system that helps people get the results they want faster and with less resistance. Andrew believes that everyone can use offshore strategies to keep more of their own money, live a life of freedom, and grow their wealth faster.
About Andrew: http://nomadcapitalist.com/about/andrew-henderson/
Our website: http://www.nomadcapitalist.com
Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=nomadcapitalist
Buy Andrew's book: https://amzn.to/2QKQqR0
DISCLAIMER: The information in this video should not be considered tax, financial, investment, or any kind of professional advice. Only a professional diagnosis of your specific situation can determine which strategies are appropriate for your needs. Nomad Capitalist can and does not provide advice unless/until engaged by you.

WorldFinance interviews Dr Orlando Smith, Premier of the British Virgin Islands, about the British Virgin Islands International Finance Centre.
The British Virgin Islands is one of the most well-known offshore financial centres in the world: second to the Cayman Islands in assets under management, but first in number of businesses present. Dr Orlando Smith explains how the BVI International Finance Centre keeps the BVI an attractive jurisdiction for businesses and high net-worth individuals, and outlines the country's plans for financial services in 2013 and beyond.
For the full transcript visit http://www.worldfinance.com/videos/dr-orlando-smith-on-offshore-services-bvi-ifc-video
For more World Finance videos go to http://www.worldfinance.com/videos

5:23

Offshore Financial Centers or Tax Havens

Offshore Financial Centers or Tax Havens

Offshore Financial Centers or Tax Havens

What Makes A Good Tax Haven? After the banking crisis in Cyprus, what country might take its place as the next popular tax haven? David Greene talks to professor James Hines at the University of Michigan Law School to find out. http://www.npr.org/2013/03/28/175550945/what-makes-a-good-tax-haven
Haven sent - The effects of Cyprus on other tax haven
Many Russians and east Europeans have used these for the "tax-efficient" shuffling of shareholdings and profits, making creative use of Cyprus's network of tax treaties and its non-taxation of dividend payments or capital gains (except on property). These vehicles are also used for "round-tripping": moving funds abroad and then back home disguised as foreign investment that is eligible for tax breaks.
http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21574509-effects-cyprus-other-tax-havens-haven-sent
Five not-so-convincing ways that tax havens justify their existence - http://qz.com/67532/tax-havens-five-not-so-convincing-justifications/

2:34

Offshore financial secrets - Money

Offshore financial secrets - Money

Offshore financial secrets - Money

Offshore financial secrets
Leaked investment information of more than 100,000 people, including hundreds of Canadians

1:10

Complete Offshore Financial Services at One Stop!!!

Complete Offshore Financial Services at One Stop!!!

Complete Offshore Financial Services at One Stop!!!

http://www.global-reserve.com/assets/ An leading offshore financial company offering banking services across the globe. A single destination for managing your wealth.

0:46

Offshore Banking for Your Personal and Financial Privacy

Offshore Banking for Your Personal and Financial Privacy

Offshore Banking for Your Personal and Financial Privacy

Why ConsiderOffshore Banking for Your Personal and Financial Privacy in this Post9 / 11 Era? In this post 9 / 11 era you should consider offshore banking as a means of protecting your own and your family's personal and financial data and records from prying eyes. The point is, by moving assets offshore, you regain control. Within the United States, you must play according to federal rules — rules that get a little less citizen-oriented every year. Offshore, there are entire jurisdictions organized to play by your rules. You design the game, and you get to be the winner. There are major concerns concerning privacy. You will hear a staggering number of horror stories from people whose lives have been indelibly marked by corporate and governmental intrusion. If you're like many Americans, you probably assume that the Constitution ensures your unalienable right to privacy. Unfortunately, you're wrong. The Fourth Amendment — the national guarantee most often cited when people talk about confidentiality — specifies only that "the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause....". The men of 1787 who drafted this legal tenet clearly meant to protect privacy as it pertained to property. They wanted a right to unthreatened ownership of land and personal possession. Our founding fathers lived in a world where people shared common norms of morality. They didn't need to sort through the questions that plague a global information-service economy. They didn't need to worry about how one man might decide to use (or share) private financial information about another. They didn't foresee an era in which sophisticated communication systems could instantaneously interact, calling up, comparing and exchanging information about you or me within a matter of several seconds. In other words, they didn't foresee the 21st century post 9 /11. Today, the greatest threat to your individual privacy has nothing to do with property theft. It has to do with access to information about you and your activities. Where you live and work, the names of your children, your medical and psychiatric history, your arrest record, the phone numbers you dial, the amount of money you earn, the way you earn it, and how you report it to Uncle Sam after if s yours — these are the information tidbits that will undoubtedly remain stored in lots of different places as long as you keep your money within U.S. borders. An offshore financial involvement offers youand your family the one and only escape from this government-endorsed conspiracy. Just as you can legitimately make more money oversees than you could ever hope to earn in this country, you can also look forward to enjoying your foreign profits in an atmosphere of complete confidentiality. In money havens scattered from Hong Kong west to Aruba and south to the Netherlands Antilles, you can benefit from iron-clad secrecy laws that strictly forbid any bureaucratic review of your personal financial records. That means you can legally guard your assets from the overzealous inspection that has become part and parcel of U.S. banking and investment portfolio management. Visit www.globalbankingandfinance.com to learn more about offshore banking.

What is OFFSHORE FINANCIAL CENTRE? What does OFFSHORE FINANCIAL CENTRE mean?

What is OFFSHORE FINANCIAL CENTRE? What does OFFSHORE FINANCIAL CENTRE mean? OFFSHORE FINANCIAL CENTRE meaning - OFFSHORE FINANCIAL CENTRE definition - OFFSHORE FINANCIAL CENTRE explanation.
Source: Wikipedia.org article, adapted under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ license.
An offshore financial centre (OFC) is a small, low-tax jurisdiction specializing in providing corporate and commercial services to non-resident offshore companies, and for the investment of offshore funds. The term was coined in the 1980s. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) defines an offshore financial centre as "a country or jurisdiction that provides financial services to nonresidents on a scale that is incommensurate with the size and the financing of its domestic economy." Although informatio...

For decades, presidents, drug smugglers and criminals have used a Panamanian law firm to hide their accounts and valuables. This is revealed in documents reviewed by media partners around the world, including NDR and WDR. A total of 370 journalists from 78 countries evaluated around 11.5 million documents in the course of their reporting on the “PanamaPapers.” An anonymous source provided the data to Germany’s Süddeutsche Zeitung. The paper then shared it with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and partners across the globe, including NDR and WDR.
http://www.daserste.de

published: 08 Apr 2016

Offshore financial centres (October 2013)

In the series „A Cup of Coffee with Rainer Münz" our expert explains economic and financial terms and topics.

published: 29 Apr 2014

Offshore Financial Centres (BSE)

Tax Havens 101: the High Cost of Going Offshore

What are offshore tax havens, who uses them, and how do they work? Find out in our explainer, and get the full story at icij.org/offshore.
Written by Kimberley Porteous and MarinaWalker Guevara, with Scott Higham. Animations by Sohail Al-Jamea and PattersonClark.

published: 07 Apr 2013

Top 10 Offshore Tax Havens You Can Still Stash Your Cash

Get more Tips here! www.destinationtips.com
Heads of state, former heads of state, heads of government, former heads of government, relatives and associates of government officials (as well as a fair share of celebrities) have all been exposed for hiding money in offshore accounts.
Here is a list of the top 10 Biggest Tax Havens in the World.
(Ranking is based on a combination of its secrecy score and scale weighting)
#10 United Arab Emirates
One of the world’s best known tax havens or secrecy jurisdictions.It has a low-tax environment and a complex array of free trade zones with multiple secrecy facilities and lax enforcement.
A large slice of the inbound money comes in the form gold.
SecrecyScore: 77%
Tax HavenStatus: Tiny
#9 Bahrain
An island of hospitality to banks and businesse...

What is OFFSHORE BANK? What does OFFSHORE BANK mean? OFFSHORE BANK meaning - OFFSHORE BANK definition - OFFSHORE BANK explanation.
Source: Wikipedia.org article, adapted under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ license.
An offshore bank is a bank located outside the country of residence of its depositors, with most of its account holders being non-residents of the jurisdiction. An account held in a foreign account, especially in a tax haven country, is often described as an offshore account. Typically, an individual or company will maintain an offshore account in a low-tax jurisdiction (or tax haven) that provides financial and legal advantages, such as:
- greater privacy (see also bank secrecy, a principle born with the 1934 Swiss Banking Act),
- little or no taxat...

Easiest Country to Open an Offshore Bank Account

Where is the easiest place to open an offshore bank account?
While there are a number of great emerging banking countries, Georgia is consistently a great place to start... even if you're a US citizen.
There are 18 banks in Georgia, with two being listed on the London Stock Exchange. You can generally bank in US dollars, euros, pounds, and Georgian lari, and you can benefit from higher interest rates.
Of course, merely opening an offshore bank account won't help you legally reduce your taxes, but it's a great start to diversifying yourself internationally.
-------
ABOUT NOMAD CAPITALIST
Andrew Henderson is the world's most sought-after consultant on legal offshore tax reduction, investment immigration, and global citizenship. He works exclusively with six- and seven-figure entrepreneu...

WorldFinance interviews Dr Orlando Smith, Premier of the British Virgin Islands, about the British Virgin Islands International Finance Centre.
The British Virgin Islands is one of the most well-known offshore financial centres in the world: second to the Cayman Islands in assets under management, but first in number of businesses present. Dr Orlando Smith explains how the BVI International Finance Centre keeps the BVI an attractive jurisdiction for businesses and high net-worth individuals, and outlines the country's plans for financial services in 2013 and beyond.
For the full transcript visit http://www.worldfinance.com/videos/dr-orlando-smith-on-offshore-services-bvi-ifc-video
For more World Finance videos go to http://www.worldfinance.com/videos

published: 30 Jul 2013

Offshore Financial Centers or Tax Havens

What Makes A Good Tax Haven? After the banking crisis in Cyprus, what country might take its place as the next popular tax haven? David Greene talks to professor James Hines at the University of Michigan Law School to find out. http://www.npr.org/2013/03/28/175550945/what-makes-a-good-tax-haven
Haven sent - The effects of Cyprus on other tax haven
Many Russians and east Europeans have used these for the "tax-efficient" shuffling of shareholdings and profits, making creative use of Cyprus's network of tax treaties and its non-taxation of dividend payments or capital gains (except on property). These vehicles are also used for "round-tripping": moving funds abroad and then back home disguised as foreign investment that is eligible for tax breaks.
http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-ec...

published: 29 Mar 2013

Offshore financial secrets - Money

Offshore financial secrets
Leaked investment information of more than 100,000 people, including hundreds of Canadians

published: 04 Apr 2013

Complete Offshore Financial Services at One Stop!!!

http://www.global-reserve.com/assets/ An leading offshore financial company offering banking services across the globe. A single destination for managing your wealth.

published: 21 Aug 2009

Offshore Banking for Your Personal and Financial Privacy

Why ConsiderOffshore Banking for Your Personal and Financial Privacy in this Post9 / 11 Era? In this post 9 / 11 era you should consider offshore banking as a means of protecting your own and your family's personal and financial data and records from prying eyes. The point is, by moving assets offshore, you regain control. Within the United States, you must play according to federal rules — rules that get a little less citizen-oriented every year. Offshore, there are entire jurisdictions organized to play by your rules. You design the game, and you get to be the winner. There are major concerns concerning privacy. You will hear a staggering number of horror stories from people whose lives have been indelibly marked by corporate and governmental intrusion. If you're like many...

What is OFFSHORE FINANCIAL CENTRE? What does OFFSHORE FINANCIAL CENTRE mean? OFFSHORE FINANCIAL CENTRE meaning - OFFSHORE FINANCIAL CENTRE definition - OFFSHORE FINANCIAL CENTRE explanation.
Source: Wikipedia.org article, adapted under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ license.
An offshore financial centre (OFC) is a small, low-tax jurisdiction specializing in providing corporate and commercial services to non-resident offshore companies, and for the investment of offshore funds. The term was coined in the 1980s. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) defines an offshore financial centre as "a country or jurisdiction that provides financial services to nonresidents on a scale that is incommensurate with the size and the financing of its domestic economy." Although information is still limited, there is strong evidence that OFCs captured a significant amount of global financial flows and functions both as back doors and partners of leading financial centre especially since the 1970s.
Whether a financial centre is to be characterized as "offshore" is a question of degree. Indeed, the IMF WorkingPaper cited above notes that its definition of an offshore centre would include the United Kingdom and the United States, which are ordinarily counted as "onshore" because of their large populations and inclusion in international organisations such as the G20 and OECD.
The more nebulous term "tax haven" is often applied to offshore centres, leading to confusion between the two concepts. In Tolley's International Initiatives Affecting Financial Havens the author in the Glossary of Terms defines an "offshore financial centre" in forthright terms as "a politically correct term for what used to be called a tax haven." However, he then qualifies this by adding, "The use of this term makes the important point that a jurisdiction may provide specific facilities for offshore financial centres without being in any general sense a tax haven." A 1981 report by the United States Internal Revenue Service concluded: "a country is a tax haven if it looks like one and if it is considered to be one by those who care."
With its connotations of financial secrecy and tax avoidance, "tax haven" is not always an appropriate term for offshore financial centres, many of which have no statutory banking secrecy, and most of which have adopted tax information exchange protocols to allow foreign countries to investigate suspected tax evasion.
Views of offshore financial centres tend to be polarised. Proponents suggest that reputable offshore financial centres play a legitimate and integral role in international finance and trade, and that their zero-tax structure allows financial planning and risk management and makes possible some of the cross-border vehicles necessary for global trade, including financing for aircraft and shipping or reinsurance of medical facilities. Proponents point to the tacit support of offshore centres by the governments of the United States (which promotes offshore financial centres by the continuing use of the Foreign Sales Corporation (FSC)) and United Kingdom (which actively promotes offshore finance in Caribbean dependent territories to help them diversify their economies and to facilitate the British Eurobond market). Opponents view them as draining tax revenues away from developed countries by allowing tax arbitrage, and rendering capital flows into and out of developing countries opaque. Very few commentators express neutral views.
Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), a U.S. government agency, when lending into countries with underdeveloped corporate law, often requires the borrower to form an offshore vehicle to facilitate the loan financing. One could argue that US external aid statutorily cannot even take place without the formation of offshore entities.
Offshore finance has been the subject of increased attention since 2000 and even more so since the April 2009G20 meeting, when heads of state resolved to "take action" against non-cooperative jurisdictions. Initiatives spearheaded by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) and the International Monetary Fund have had a significant effect on the offshore finance industry.

What is OFFSHORE FINANCIAL CENTRE? What does OFFSHORE FINANCIAL CENTRE mean? OFFSHORE FINANCIAL CENTRE meaning - OFFSHORE FINANCIAL CENTRE definition - OFFSHORE FINANCIAL CENTRE explanation.
Source: Wikipedia.org article, adapted under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ license.
An offshore financial centre (OFC) is a small, low-tax jurisdiction specializing in providing corporate and commercial services to non-resident offshore companies, and for the investment of offshore funds. The term was coined in the 1980s. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) defines an offshore financial centre as "a country or jurisdiction that provides financial services to nonresidents on a scale that is incommensurate with the size and the financing of its domestic economy." Although information is still limited, there is strong evidence that OFCs captured a significant amount of global financial flows and functions both as back doors and partners of leading financial centre especially since the 1970s.
Whether a financial centre is to be characterized as "offshore" is a question of degree. Indeed, the IMF WorkingPaper cited above notes that its definition of an offshore centre would include the United Kingdom and the United States, which are ordinarily counted as "onshore" because of their large populations and inclusion in international organisations such as the G20 and OECD.
The more nebulous term "tax haven" is often applied to offshore centres, leading to confusion between the two concepts. In Tolley's International Initiatives Affecting Financial Havens the author in the Glossary of Terms defines an "offshore financial centre" in forthright terms as "a politically correct term for what used to be called a tax haven." However, he then qualifies this by adding, "The use of this term makes the important point that a jurisdiction may provide specific facilities for offshore financial centres without being in any general sense a tax haven." A 1981 report by the United States Internal Revenue Service concluded: "a country is a tax haven if it looks like one and if it is considered to be one by those who care."
With its connotations of financial secrecy and tax avoidance, "tax haven" is not always an appropriate term for offshore financial centres, many of which have no statutory banking secrecy, and most of which have adopted tax information exchange protocols to allow foreign countries to investigate suspected tax evasion.
Views of offshore financial centres tend to be polarised. Proponents suggest that reputable offshore financial centres play a legitimate and integral role in international finance and trade, and that their zero-tax structure allows financial planning and risk management and makes possible some of the cross-border vehicles necessary for global trade, including financing for aircraft and shipping or reinsurance of medical facilities. Proponents point to the tacit support of offshore centres by the governments of the United States (which promotes offshore financial centres by the continuing use of the Foreign Sales Corporation (FSC)) and United Kingdom (which actively promotes offshore finance in Caribbean dependent territories to help them diversify their economies and to facilitate the British Eurobond market). Opponents view them as draining tax revenues away from developed countries by allowing tax arbitrage, and rendering capital flows into and out of developing countries opaque. Very few commentators express neutral views.
Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), a U.S. government agency, when lending into countries with underdeveloped corporate law, often requires the borrower to form an offshore vehicle to facilitate the loan financing. One could argue that US external aid statutorily cannot even take place without the formation of offshore entities.
Offshore finance has been the subject of increased attention since 2000 and even more so since the April 2009G20 meeting, when heads of state resolved to "take action" against non-cooperative jurisdictions. Initiatives spearheaded by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) and the International Monetary Fund have had a significant effect on the offshore finance industry.

For decades, presidents, drug smugglers and criminals have used a Panamanian law firm to hide their accounts and valuables. This is revealed in documents review...

For decades, presidents, drug smugglers and criminals have used a Panamanian law firm to hide their accounts and valuables. This is revealed in documents reviewed by media partners around the world, including NDR and WDR. A total of 370 journalists from 78 countries evaluated around 11.5 million documents in the course of their reporting on the “PanamaPapers.” An anonymous source provided the data to Germany’s Süddeutsche Zeitung. The paper then shared it with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and partners across the globe, including NDR and WDR.
http://www.daserste.de

For decades, presidents, drug smugglers and criminals have used a Panamanian law firm to hide their accounts and valuables. This is revealed in documents reviewed by media partners around the world, including NDR and WDR. A total of 370 journalists from 78 countries evaluated around 11.5 million documents in the course of their reporting on the “PanamaPapers.” An anonymous source provided the data to Germany’s Süddeutsche Zeitung. The paper then shared it with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and partners across the globe, including NDR and WDR.
http://www.daserste.de

Tax Havens 101: the High Cost of Going Offshore

What are offshore tax havens, who uses them, and how do they work? Find out in our explainer, and get the full story at icij.org/offshore.
Written by Kimberley...

What are offshore tax havens, who uses them, and how do they work? Find out in our explainer, and get the full story at icij.org/offshore.
Written by Kimberley Porteous and MarinaWalker Guevara, with Scott Higham. Animations by Sohail Al-Jamea and PattersonClark.

What are offshore tax havens, who uses them, and how do they work? Find out in our explainer, and get the full story at icij.org/offshore.
Written by Kimberley Porteous and MarinaWalker Guevara, with Scott Higham. Animations by Sohail Al-Jamea and PattersonClark.

Top 10 Offshore Tax Havens You Can Still Stash Your Cash

Get more Tips here! www.destinationtips.com
Heads of state, former heads of state, heads of government, former heads of government, relatives and associates o...

Get more Tips here! www.destinationtips.com
Heads of state, former heads of state, heads of government, former heads of government, relatives and associates of government officials (as well as a fair share of celebrities) have all been exposed for hiding money in offshore accounts.
Here is a list of the top 10 Biggest Tax Havens in the World.
(Ranking is based on a combination of its secrecy score and scale weighting)
#10 United Arab Emirates
One of the world’s best known tax havens or secrecy jurisdictions.It has a low-tax environment and a complex array of free trade zones with multiple secrecy facilities and lax enforcement.
A large slice of the inbound money comes in the form gold.
SecrecyScore: 77%
Tax HavenStatus: Tiny
#9 Bahrain
An island of hospitality to banks and businesses and also one of the biggest global centers for Islamic finance. There is no corporate income tax, personal income tax or capital gains tax. Bahrain also has a wide network of tax treaties with a number of developing countries.
Secrecy Score: 74%
Tax Haven Status: Small
#8 Germany
Between $2.81 to $3.38 trillion of tax exempt interest-bearing assets held by non-residents as of August 2013. Germany does not sufficiently exchange tax-related information with a multitude of other jurisdictions and despite recent progress with its anti-money laundering framework, major loopholes and many implementation deficits still exist
Secrecy Score: 56%
Tax Haven Status: Huge but Shifty
#7 Lebanon
Many members of the population are high-net worth individuals. Beirut’s offshore financial services sector has been growing at an average of nearly 12 percent per year since 2006. Lebanon’s political and military troubles over recent decades have disrupted the offshore financial sector, but it has proved astonishingly resilient.
Secrecy Score: 79%
Tax Haven Status: Small and Secure
#6 Luxembourg
The most important private banking and wealth management center in the Eurozone.
It has 143 banks holding almost $800 billion in assets, over $300 billion of which are in the secretive private banking sector and is a center of lax financial regulation and is still one of the world’s most important financial centers.
Breaking professional secrecy can result in a prison sentence
Secrecy Score: 55%
Tax Haven Status: Huge
#5 The Cayman Islands
Banking assets worth $1.4 trillion in June 2014.
Hoststing over 11,000 mutual and other funds with a net asset value of $2.1 trillion.
It has 200 banks, over 140 trust companies and over 95,000 registered companies and retains many secrecy features plus laws that can put people in jail not only for exposing confidential information, but merely for asking for it.
Secrecy Score: 65%
Tax Haven Status: Aggressively Protective
#4 SingaporeA major wealth management center, with $1.4 trillion in assets under management in 2013.
In 2014 it become Asia’s largest foreign exchange trading center.
It hosts a lack of serious reforms to its corporate secrecy regime and a lack of interest in creating public registries of beneficial ownership.
Secrecy Score: 69%
Tax Haven Status: Intentionally Blind?
#3 USAThe U.S. has led the charge in combating international tax evasion using offshore financial accounts. However, the U.S. also provides a multitude of secrecy and tax-free facilities for non U.S. residents
It's one of the few places left where advisers are actively promoting accounts that will remain secret from overseas authorities.
Secrecy Score: 60%
Tax Haven Status: Ironic
#2 Hong Kong
Hong Kong has the second largest stock exchange in Asia after Tokyo with $2.1 trillion under management in April 2015 and over $350 billion in private banking assets.
China’s control over Hong Kong has shielded it from global transparency initiatives.
It also has not signed the multilateral agreement to initiate automatic information exchange via the CRS.
Secrecy Score: 72%
Tax Haven Status: See-No-Evil
#1 Switzerland
Switzerland is the grandfather of the world’s tax havens, known to have introduced Banking Secrecy Laws as far back as 1934
However, in 2010, the US enacted the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act and the Swiss government was ultimately forced to bow to US pressure
In 2013, the US government signed a tax treaty that calls for Swiss banks to provide details on their American account holders
Secrecy Score: 73%
Tax Haven Status: BOSS

Get more Tips here! www.destinationtips.com
Heads of state, former heads of state, heads of government, former heads of government, relatives and associates of government officials (as well as a fair share of celebrities) have all been exposed for hiding money in offshore accounts.
Here is a list of the top 10 Biggest Tax Havens in the World.
(Ranking is based on a combination of its secrecy score and scale weighting)
#10 United Arab Emirates
One of the world’s best known tax havens or secrecy jurisdictions.It has a low-tax environment and a complex array of free trade zones with multiple secrecy facilities and lax enforcement.
A large slice of the inbound money comes in the form gold.
SecrecyScore: 77%
Tax HavenStatus: Tiny
#9 Bahrain
An island of hospitality to banks and businesses and also one of the biggest global centers for Islamic finance. There is no corporate income tax, personal income tax or capital gains tax. Bahrain also has a wide network of tax treaties with a number of developing countries.
Secrecy Score: 74%
Tax Haven Status: Small
#8 Germany
Between $2.81 to $3.38 trillion of tax exempt interest-bearing assets held by non-residents as of August 2013. Germany does not sufficiently exchange tax-related information with a multitude of other jurisdictions and despite recent progress with its anti-money laundering framework, major loopholes and many implementation deficits still exist
Secrecy Score: 56%
Tax Haven Status: Huge but Shifty
#7 Lebanon
Many members of the population are high-net worth individuals. Beirut’s offshore financial services sector has been growing at an average of nearly 12 percent per year since 2006. Lebanon’s political and military troubles over recent decades have disrupted the offshore financial sector, but it has proved astonishingly resilient.
Secrecy Score: 79%
Tax Haven Status: Small and Secure
#6 Luxembourg
The most important private banking and wealth management center in the Eurozone.
It has 143 banks holding almost $800 billion in assets, over $300 billion of which are in the secretive private banking sector and is a center of lax financial regulation and is still one of the world’s most important financial centers.
Breaking professional secrecy can result in a prison sentence
Secrecy Score: 55%
Tax Haven Status: Huge
#5 The Cayman Islands
Banking assets worth $1.4 trillion in June 2014.
Hoststing over 11,000 mutual and other funds with a net asset value of $2.1 trillion.
It has 200 banks, over 140 trust companies and over 95,000 registered companies and retains many secrecy features plus laws that can put people in jail not only for exposing confidential information, but merely for asking for it.
Secrecy Score: 65%
Tax Haven Status: Aggressively Protective
#4 SingaporeA major wealth management center, with $1.4 trillion in assets under management in 2013.
In 2014 it become Asia’s largest foreign exchange trading center.
It hosts a lack of serious reforms to its corporate secrecy regime and a lack of interest in creating public registries of beneficial ownership.
Secrecy Score: 69%
Tax Haven Status: Intentionally Blind?
#3 USAThe U.S. has led the charge in combating international tax evasion using offshore financial accounts. However, the U.S. also provides a multitude of secrecy and tax-free facilities for non U.S. residents
It's one of the few places left where advisers are actively promoting accounts that will remain secret from overseas authorities.
Secrecy Score: 60%
Tax Haven Status: Ironic
#2 Hong Kong
Hong Kong has the second largest stock exchange in Asia after Tokyo with $2.1 trillion under management in April 2015 and over $350 billion in private banking assets.
China’s control over Hong Kong has shielded it from global transparency initiatives.
It also has not signed the multilateral agreement to initiate automatic information exchange via the CRS.
Secrecy Score: 72%
Tax Haven Status: See-No-Evil
#1 Switzerland
Switzerland is the grandfather of the world’s tax havens, known to have introduced Banking Secrecy Laws as far back as 1934
However, in 2010, the US enacted the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act and the Swiss government was ultimately forced to bow to US pressure
In 2013, the US government signed a tax treaty that calls for Swiss banks to provide details on their American account holders
Secrecy Score: 73%
Tax Haven Status: BOSS

What is OFFSHORE BANK? What does OFFSHORE BANK mean? OFFSHORE BANK meaning - OFFSHORE BANK definition - OFFSHORE BANK explanation.
Source: Wikipedia.org article, adapted under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ license.
An offshore bank is a bank located outside the country of residence of its depositors, with most of its account holders being non-residents of the jurisdiction. An account held in a foreign account, especially in a tax haven country, is often described as an offshore account. Typically, an individual or company will maintain an offshore account in a low-tax jurisdiction (or tax haven) that provides financial and legal advantages, such as:
- greater privacy (see also bank secrecy, a principle born with the 1934 Swiss Banking Act),
- little or no taxation (i.e. tax havens),
- easy access to deposits (at least in terms of regulation), and
- protection against local, political, or financial instability.
While the term originates from the Channel Islands being "offshore" from the United Kingdom, and while most offshore banks are located in island nations to this day, the term is used figuratively to refer to any bank used for these advantages, regardless of location. Thus, some banks in landlocked Switzerland, Luxembourg and Andorra may be described as "offshore banks".
Offshore banking has often been associated with the underground economy and organized crime, via tax evasion and money laundering; however, legally, offshore banking does not prevent assets from being subject to personal income tax on interest. Except for certain people who meet fairly complex requirements, the personal income tax of many countries makes no distinction between interest earned in local banks and those earned abroad. Persons subject to US income tax, for example, are required to declare, on penalty of perjury, any foreign bank accounts—which may or may not be numbered bank accounts—they may have. Although offshore banks may decide not to report income to other tax authorities, and have no legal obligation to do so as they are protected by bank secrecy, this does not make the non-declaration of the income by the tax-payer or the evasion of the tax on that income legal. Following the 9/11 attacks, there have been many calls for more regulation on international finance, in particular concerning offshore banks, tax havens, and clearing houses such as Clearstream, based in Luxembourg, being possible crossroads for major illegal money flows.
"How dare citizens control monetary value beyond their state's grasp and supervision." - the perceived mentality of the state, satirically verbalized by defenders of offshore banking.
Defenders of offshore banking have criticized these attempts at regulation. They claim the process is prompted not by security and financial concerns, but by the desire of domestic banks and tax agencies to access the money held in offshore accounts. They cite the fact that offshore banking offers a competitive threat to the banking and taxation systems in developed countries, suggesting that Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)] countries are trying to stamp out competition.

What is OFFSHORE BANK? What does OFFSHORE BANK mean? OFFSHORE BANK meaning - OFFSHORE BANK definition - OFFSHORE BANK explanation.
Source: Wikipedia.org article, adapted under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ license.
An offshore bank is a bank located outside the country of residence of its depositors, with most of its account holders being non-residents of the jurisdiction. An account held in a foreign account, especially in a tax haven country, is often described as an offshore account. Typically, an individual or company will maintain an offshore account in a low-tax jurisdiction (or tax haven) that provides financial and legal advantages, such as:
- greater privacy (see also bank secrecy, a principle born with the 1934 Swiss Banking Act),
- little or no taxation (i.e. tax havens),
- easy access to deposits (at least in terms of regulation), and
- protection against local, political, or financial instability.
While the term originates from the Channel Islands being "offshore" from the United Kingdom, and while most offshore banks are located in island nations to this day, the term is used figuratively to refer to any bank used for these advantages, regardless of location. Thus, some banks in landlocked Switzerland, Luxembourg and Andorra may be described as "offshore banks".
Offshore banking has often been associated with the underground economy and organized crime, via tax evasion and money laundering; however, legally, offshore banking does not prevent assets from being subject to personal income tax on interest. Except for certain people who meet fairly complex requirements, the personal income tax of many countries makes no distinction between interest earned in local banks and those earned abroad. Persons subject to US income tax, for example, are required to declare, on penalty of perjury, any foreign bank accounts—which may or may not be numbered bank accounts—they may have. Although offshore banks may decide not to report income to other tax authorities, and have no legal obligation to do so as they are protected by bank secrecy, this does not make the non-declaration of the income by the tax-payer or the evasion of the tax on that income legal. Following the 9/11 attacks, there have been many calls for more regulation on international finance, in particular concerning offshore banks, tax havens, and clearing houses such as Clearstream, based in Luxembourg, being possible crossroads for major illegal money flows.
"How dare citizens control monetary value beyond their state's grasp and supervision." - the perceived mentality of the state, satirically verbalized by defenders of offshore banking.
Defenders of offshore banking have criticized these attempts at regulation. They claim the process is prompted not by security and financial concerns, but by the desire of domestic banks and tax agencies to access the money held in offshore accounts. They cite the fact that offshore banking offers a competitive threat to the banking and taxation systems in developed countries, suggesting that Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)] countries are trying to stamp out competition.

Easiest Country to Open an Offshore Bank Account

Where is the easiest place to open an offshore bank account?
While there are a number of great emerging banking countries, Georgia is consistently a great plac...

Where is the easiest place to open an offshore bank account?
While there are a number of great emerging banking countries, Georgia is consistently a great place to start... even if you're a US citizen.
There are 18 banks in Georgia, with two being listed on the London Stock Exchange. You can generally bank in US dollars, euros, pounds, and Georgian lari, and you can benefit from higher interest rates.
Of course, merely opening an offshore bank account won't help you legally reduce your taxes, but it's a great start to diversifying yourself internationally.
-------
ABOUT NOMAD CAPITALIST
Andrew Henderson is the world's most sought-after consultant on legal offshore tax reduction, investment immigration, and global citizenship. He works exclusively with six- and seven-figure entrepreneurs and investors who want to "go where they're treated best".
Work with Andrew: http://bit.ly/Nomad-Capitalist-Application
Andrew has spent the last 11 years studying and personally implementing the Nomad Capitalist lifestyle, and has started offshore companies, opened offshore bank accounts, obtained multiple second passports, and purchased real estate in a more than 20 countries.
He has also spent years creating a behavior-based system that helps people get the results they want faster and with less resistance. Andrew believes that everyone can use offshore strategies to keep more of their own money, live a life of freedom, and grow their wealth faster.
About Andrew: http://nomadcapitalist.com/about/andrew-henderson/
Our website: http://www.nomadcapitalist.com
Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=nomadcapitalist
Buy Andrew's book: https://amzn.to/2QKQqR0
DISCLAIMER: The information in this video should not be considered tax, financial, investment, or any kind of professional advice. Only a professional diagnosis of your specific situation can determine which strategies are appropriate for your needs. Nomad Capitalist can and does not provide advice unless/until engaged by you.

Where is the easiest place to open an offshore bank account?
While there are a number of great emerging banking countries, Georgia is consistently a great place to start... even if you're a US citizen.
There are 18 banks in Georgia, with two being listed on the London Stock Exchange. You can generally bank in US dollars, euros, pounds, and Georgian lari, and you can benefit from higher interest rates.
Of course, merely opening an offshore bank account won't help you legally reduce your taxes, but it's a great start to diversifying yourself internationally.
-------
ABOUT NOMAD CAPITALIST
Andrew Henderson is the world's most sought-after consultant on legal offshore tax reduction, investment immigration, and global citizenship. He works exclusively with six- and seven-figure entrepreneurs and investors who want to "go where they're treated best".
Work with Andrew: http://bit.ly/Nomad-Capitalist-Application
Andrew has spent the last 11 years studying and personally implementing the Nomad Capitalist lifestyle, and has started offshore companies, opened offshore bank accounts, obtained multiple second passports, and purchased real estate in a more than 20 countries.
He has also spent years creating a behavior-based system that helps people get the results they want faster and with less resistance. Andrew believes that everyone can use offshore strategies to keep more of their own money, live a life of freedom, and grow their wealth faster.
About Andrew: http://nomadcapitalist.com/about/andrew-henderson/
Our website: http://www.nomadcapitalist.com
Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=nomadcapitalist
Buy Andrew's book: https://amzn.to/2QKQqR0
DISCLAIMER: The information in this video should not be considered tax, financial, investment, or any kind of professional advice. Only a professional diagnosis of your specific situation can determine which strategies are appropriate for your needs. Nomad Capitalist can and does not provide advice unless/until engaged by you.

WorldFinance interviews Dr Orlando Smith, Premier of the British Virgin Islands, about the British Virgin Islands International Finance Centre.
The British Virgin Islands is one of the most well-known offshore financial centres in the world: second to the Cayman Islands in assets under management, but first in number of businesses present. Dr Orlando Smith explains how the BVI International Finance Centre keeps the BVI an attractive jurisdiction for businesses and high net-worth individuals, and outlines the country's plans for financial services in 2013 and beyond.
For the full transcript visit http://www.worldfinance.com/videos/dr-orlando-smith-on-offshore-services-bvi-ifc-video
For more World Finance videos go to http://www.worldfinance.com/videos

WorldFinance interviews Dr Orlando Smith, Premier of the British Virgin Islands, about the British Virgin Islands International Finance Centre.
The British Virgin Islands is one of the most well-known offshore financial centres in the world: second to the Cayman Islands in assets under management, but first in number of businesses present. Dr Orlando Smith explains how the BVI International Finance Centre keeps the BVI an attractive jurisdiction for businesses and high net-worth individuals, and outlines the country's plans for financial services in 2013 and beyond.
For the full transcript visit http://www.worldfinance.com/videos/dr-orlando-smith-on-offshore-services-bvi-ifc-video
For more World Finance videos go to http://www.worldfinance.com/videos

Offshore Financial Centers or Tax Havens

What Makes A Good Tax Haven? After the banking crisis in Cyprus, what country might take its place as the next popular tax haven? David Greene talks to professo...

What Makes A Good Tax Haven? After the banking crisis in Cyprus, what country might take its place as the next popular tax haven? David Greene talks to professor James Hines at the University of Michigan Law School to find out. http://www.npr.org/2013/03/28/175550945/what-makes-a-good-tax-haven
Haven sent - The effects of Cyprus on other tax haven
Many Russians and east Europeans have used these for the "tax-efficient" shuffling of shareholdings and profits, making creative use of Cyprus's network of tax treaties and its non-taxation of dividend payments or capital gains (except on property). These vehicles are also used for "round-tripping": moving funds abroad and then back home disguised as foreign investment that is eligible for tax breaks.
http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21574509-effects-cyprus-other-tax-havens-haven-sent
Five not-so-convincing ways that tax havens justify their existence - http://qz.com/67532/tax-havens-five-not-so-convincing-justifications/

What Makes A Good Tax Haven? After the banking crisis in Cyprus, what country might take its place as the next popular tax haven? David Greene talks to professor James Hines at the University of Michigan Law School to find out. http://www.npr.org/2013/03/28/175550945/what-makes-a-good-tax-haven
Haven sent - The effects of Cyprus on other tax haven
Many Russians and east Europeans have used these for the "tax-efficient" shuffling of shareholdings and profits, making creative use of Cyprus's network of tax treaties and its non-taxation of dividend payments or capital gains (except on property). These vehicles are also used for "round-tripping": moving funds abroad and then back home disguised as foreign investment that is eligible for tax breaks.
http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21574509-effects-cyprus-other-tax-havens-haven-sent
Five not-so-convincing ways that tax havens justify their existence - http://qz.com/67532/tax-havens-five-not-so-convincing-justifications/

Why ConsiderOffshore Banking for Your Personal and Financial Privacy in this Post9 / 11 Era? In this post 9 / 11 era you should consider offshore banking as a means of protecting your own and your family's personal and financial data and records from prying eyes. The point is, by moving assets offshore, you regain control. Within the United States, you must play according to federal rules — rules that get a little less citizen-oriented every year. Offshore, there are entire jurisdictions organized to play by your rules. You design the game, and you get to be the winner. There are major concerns concerning privacy. You will hear a staggering number of horror stories from people whose lives have been indelibly marked by corporate and governmental intrusion. If you're like many Americans, you probably assume that the Constitution ensures your unalienable right to privacy. Unfortunately, you're wrong. The Fourth Amendment — the national guarantee most often cited when people talk about confidentiality — specifies only that "the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause....". The men of 1787 who drafted this legal tenet clearly meant to protect privacy as it pertained to property. They wanted a right to unthreatened ownership of land and personal possession. Our founding fathers lived in a world where people shared common norms of morality. They didn't need to sort through the questions that plague a global information-service economy. They didn't need to worry about how one man might decide to use (or share) private financial information about another. They didn't foresee an era in which sophisticated communication systems could instantaneously interact, calling up, comparing and exchanging information about you or me within a matter of several seconds. In other words, they didn't foresee the 21st century post 9 /11. Today, the greatest threat to your individual privacy has nothing to do with property theft. It has to do with access to information about you and your activities. Where you live and work, the names of your children, your medical and psychiatric history, your arrest record, the phone numbers you dial, the amount of money you earn, the way you earn it, and how you report it to Uncle Sam after if s yours — these are the information tidbits that will undoubtedly remain stored in lots of different places as long as you keep your money within U.S. borders. An offshore financial involvement offers youand your family the one and only escape from this government-endorsed conspiracy. Just as you can legitimately make more money oversees than you could ever hope to earn in this country, you can also look forward to enjoying your foreign profits in an atmosphere of complete confidentiality. In money havens scattered from Hong Kong west to Aruba and south to the Netherlands Antilles, you can benefit from iron-clad secrecy laws that strictly forbid any bureaucratic review of your personal financial records. That means you can legally guard your assets from the overzealous inspection that has become part and parcel of U.S. banking and investment portfolio management. Visit www.globalbankingandfinance.com to learn more about offshore banking.

Why ConsiderOffshore Banking for Your Personal and Financial Privacy in this Post9 / 11 Era? In this post 9 / 11 era you should consider offshore banking as a means of protecting your own and your family's personal and financial data and records from prying eyes. The point is, by moving assets offshore, you regain control. Within the United States, you must play according to federal rules — rules that get a little less citizen-oriented every year. Offshore, there are entire jurisdictions organized to play by your rules. You design the game, and you get to be the winner. There are major concerns concerning privacy. You will hear a staggering number of horror stories from people whose lives have been indelibly marked by corporate and governmental intrusion. If you're like many Americans, you probably assume that the Constitution ensures your unalienable right to privacy. Unfortunately, you're wrong. The Fourth Amendment — the national guarantee most often cited when people talk about confidentiality — specifies only that "the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause....". The men of 1787 who drafted this legal tenet clearly meant to protect privacy as it pertained to property. They wanted a right to unthreatened ownership of land and personal possession. Our founding fathers lived in a world where people shared common norms of morality. They didn't need to sort through the questions that plague a global information-service economy. They didn't need to worry about how one man might decide to use (or share) private financial information about another. They didn't foresee an era in which sophisticated communication systems could instantaneously interact, calling up, comparing and exchanging information about you or me within a matter of several seconds. In other words, they didn't foresee the 21st century post 9 /11. Today, the greatest threat to your individual privacy has nothing to do with property theft. It has to do with access to information about you and your activities. Where you live and work, the names of your children, your medical and psychiatric history, your arrest record, the phone numbers you dial, the amount of money you earn, the way you earn it, and how you report it to Uncle Sam after if s yours — these are the information tidbits that will undoubtedly remain stored in lots of different places as long as you keep your money within U.S. borders. An offshore financial involvement offers youand your family the one and only escape from this government-endorsed conspiracy. Just as you can legitimately make more money oversees than you could ever hope to earn in this country, you can also look forward to enjoying your foreign profits in an atmosphere of complete confidentiality. In money havens scattered from Hong Kong west to Aruba and south to the Netherlands Antilles, you can benefit from iron-clad secrecy laws that strictly forbid any bureaucratic review of your personal financial records. That means you can legally guard your assets from the overzealous inspection that has become part and parcel of U.S. banking and investment portfolio management. Visit www.globalbankingandfinance.com to learn more about offshore banking.

What is OFFSHORE FINANCIAL CENTRE? What does OFFSHORE FINANCIAL CENTRE mean?

What is OFFSHORE FINANCIAL CENTRE? What does OFFSHORE FINANCIAL CENTRE mean? OFFSHORE FINANCIAL CENTRE meaning - OFFSHORE FINANCIAL CENTRE definition - OFFSHORE FINANCIAL CENTRE explanation.
Source: Wikipedia.org article, adapted under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ license.
An offshore financial centre (OFC) is a small, low-tax jurisdiction specializing in providing corporate and commercial services to non-resident offshore companies, and for the investment of offshore funds. The term was coined in the 1980s. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) defines an offshore financial centre as "a country or jurisdiction that provides financial services to nonresidents on a scale that is incommensurate with the size and the financing of its domestic economy." Although information is still limited, there is strong evidence that OFCs captured a significant amount of global financial flows and functions both as back doors and partners of leading financial centre especially since the 1970s.
Whether a financial centre is to be characterized as "offshore" is a question of degree. Indeed, the IMF WorkingPaper cited above notes that its definition of an offshore centre would include the United Kingdom and the United States, which are ordinarily counted as "onshore" because of their large populations and inclusion in international organisations such as the G20 and OECD.
The more nebulous term "tax haven" is often applied to offshore centres, leading to confusion between the two concepts. In Tolley's International Initiatives Affecting Financial Havens the author in the Glossary of Terms defines an "offshore financial centre" in forthright terms as "a politically correct term for what used to be called a tax haven." However, he then qualifies this by adding, "The use of this term makes the important point that a jurisdiction may provide specific facilities for offshore financial centres without being in any general sense a tax haven." A 1981 report by the United States Internal Revenue Service concluded: "a country is a tax haven if it looks like one and if it is considered to be one by those who care."
With its connotations of financial secrecy and tax avoidance, "tax haven" is not always an appropriate term for offshore financial centres, many of which have no statutory banking secrecy, and most of which have adopted tax information exchange protocols to allow foreign countries to investigate suspected tax evasion.
Views of offshore financial centres tend to be polarised. Proponents suggest that reputable offshore financial centres play a legitimate and integral role in international finance and trade, and that their zero-tax structure allows financial planning and risk management and makes possible some of the cross-border vehicles necessary for global trade, including financing for aircraft and shipping or reinsurance of medical facilities. Proponents point to the tacit support of offshore centres by the governments of the United States (which promotes offshore financial centres by the continuing use of the Foreign Sales Corporation (FSC)) and United Kingdom (which actively promotes offshore finance in Caribbean dependent territories to help them diversify their economies and to facilitate the British Eurobond market). Opponents view them as draining tax revenues away from developed countries by allowing tax arbitrage, and rendering capital flows into and out of developing countries opaque. Very few commentators express neutral views.
Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), a U.S. government agency, when lending into countries with underdeveloped corporate law, often requires the borrower to form an offshore vehicle to facilitate the loan financing. One could argue that US external aid statutorily cannot even take place without the formation of offshore entities.
Offshore finance has been the subject of increased attention since 2000 and even more so since the April 2009G20 meeting, when heads of state resolved to "take action" against non-cooperative jurisdictions. Initiatives spearheaded by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) and the International Monetary Fund have had a significant effect on the offshore finance industry.

For decades, presidents, drug smugglers and criminals have used a Panamanian law firm to hide their accounts and valuables. This is revealed in documents reviewed by media partners around the world, including NDR and WDR. A total of 370 journalists from 78 countries evaluated around 11.5 million documents in the course of their reporting on the “PanamaPapers.” An anonymous source provided the data to Germany’s Süddeutsche Zeitung. The paper then shared it with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and partners across the globe, including NDR and WDR.
http://www.daserste.de

Tax Havens 101: the High Cost of Going Offshore

What are offshore tax havens, who uses them, and how do they work? Find out in our explainer, and get the full story at icij.org/offshore.
Written by Kimberley Porteous and MarinaWalker Guevara, with Scott Higham. Animations by Sohail Al-Jamea and PattersonClark.

Top 10 Offshore Tax Havens You Can Still Stash Your Cash

Get more Tips here! www.destinationtips.com
Heads of state, former heads of state, heads of government, former heads of government, relatives and associates of government officials (as well as a fair share of celebrities) have all been exposed for hiding money in offshore accounts.
Here is a list of the top 10 Biggest Tax Havens in the World.
(Ranking is based on a combination of its secrecy score and scale weighting)
#10 United Arab Emirates
One of the world’s best known tax havens or secrecy jurisdictions.It has a low-tax environment and a complex array of free trade zones with multiple secrecy facilities and lax enforcement.
A large slice of the inbound money comes in the form gold.
SecrecyScore: 77%
Tax HavenStatus: Tiny
#9 Bahrain
An island of hospitality to banks and businesses and also one of the biggest global centers for Islamic finance. There is no corporate income tax, personal income tax or capital gains tax. Bahrain also has a wide network of tax treaties with a number of developing countries.
Secrecy Score: 74%
Tax Haven Status: Small
#8 Germany
Between $2.81 to $3.38 trillion of tax exempt interest-bearing assets held by non-residents as of August 2013. Germany does not sufficiently exchange tax-related information with a multitude of other jurisdictions and despite recent progress with its anti-money laundering framework, major loopholes and many implementation deficits still exist
Secrecy Score: 56%
Tax Haven Status: Huge but Shifty
#7 Lebanon
Many members of the population are high-net worth individuals. Beirut’s offshore financial services sector has been growing at an average of nearly 12 percent per year since 2006. Lebanon’s political and military troubles over recent decades have disrupted the offshore financial sector, but it has proved astonishingly resilient.
Secrecy Score: 79%
Tax Haven Status: Small and Secure
#6 Luxembourg
The most important private banking and wealth management center in the Eurozone.
It has 143 banks holding almost $800 billion in assets, over $300 billion of which are in the secretive private banking sector and is a center of lax financial regulation and is still one of the world’s most important financial centers.
Breaking professional secrecy can result in a prison sentence
Secrecy Score: 55%
Tax Haven Status: Huge
#5 The Cayman Islands
Banking assets worth $1.4 trillion in June 2014.
Hoststing over 11,000 mutual and other funds with a net asset value of $2.1 trillion.
It has 200 banks, over 140 trust companies and over 95,000 registered companies and retains many secrecy features plus laws that can put people in jail not only for exposing confidential information, but merely for asking for it.
Secrecy Score: 65%
Tax Haven Status: Aggressively Protective
#4 SingaporeA major wealth management center, with $1.4 trillion in assets under management in 2013.
In 2014 it become Asia’s largest foreign exchange trading center.
It hosts a lack of serious reforms to its corporate secrecy regime and a lack of interest in creating public registries of beneficial ownership.
Secrecy Score: 69%
Tax Haven Status: Intentionally Blind?
#3 USAThe U.S. has led the charge in combating international tax evasion using offshore financial accounts. However, the U.S. also provides a multitude of secrecy and tax-free facilities for non U.S. residents
It's one of the few places left where advisers are actively promoting accounts that will remain secret from overseas authorities.
Secrecy Score: 60%
Tax Haven Status: Ironic
#2 Hong Kong
Hong Kong has the second largest stock exchange in Asia after Tokyo with $2.1 trillion under management in April 2015 and over $350 billion in private banking assets.
China’s control over Hong Kong has shielded it from global transparency initiatives.
It also has not signed the multilateral agreement to initiate automatic information exchange via the CRS.
Secrecy Score: 72%
Tax Haven Status: See-No-Evil
#1 Switzerland
Switzerland is the grandfather of the world’s tax havens, known to have introduced Banking Secrecy Laws as far back as 1934
However, in 2010, the US enacted the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act and the Swiss government was ultimately forced to bow to US pressure
In 2013, the US government signed a tax treaty that calls for Swiss banks to provide details on their American account holders
Secrecy Score: 73%
Tax Haven Status: BOSS

What is OFFSHORE BANK? What does OFFSHORE BANK mean? OFFSHORE BANK meaning - OFFSHORE BANK definition - OFFSHORE BANK explanation.
Source: Wikipedia.org article, adapted under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ license.
An offshore bank is a bank located outside the country of residence of its depositors, with most of its account holders being non-residents of the jurisdiction. An account held in a foreign account, especially in a tax haven country, is often described as an offshore account. Typically, an individual or company will maintain an offshore account in a low-tax jurisdiction (or tax haven) that provides financial and legal advantages, such as:
- greater privacy (see also bank secrecy, a principle born with the 1934 Swiss Banking Act),
- little or no taxation (i.e. tax havens),
- easy access to deposits (at least in terms of regulation), and
- protection against local, political, or financial instability.
While the term originates from the Channel Islands being "offshore" from the United Kingdom, and while most offshore banks are located in island nations to this day, the term is used figuratively to refer to any bank used for these advantages, regardless of location. Thus, some banks in landlocked Switzerland, Luxembourg and Andorra may be described as "offshore banks".
Offshore banking has often been associated with the underground economy and organized crime, via tax evasion and money laundering; however, legally, offshore banking does not prevent assets from being subject to personal income tax on interest. Except for certain people who meet fairly complex requirements, the personal income tax of many countries makes no distinction between interest earned in local banks and those earned abroad. Persons subject to US income tax, for example, are required to declare, on penalty of perjury, any foreign bank accounts—which may or may not be numbered bank accounts—they may have. Although offshore banks may decide not to report income to other tax authorities, and have no legal obligation to do so as they are protected by bank secrecy, this does not make the non-declaration of the income by the tax-payer or the evasion of the tax on that income legal. Following the 9/11 attacks, there have been many calls for more regulation on international finance, in particular concerning offshore banks, tax havens, and clearing houses such as Clearstream, based in Luxembourg, being possible crossroads for major illegal money flows.
"How dare citizens control monetary value beyond their state's grasp and supervision." - the perceived mentality of the state, satirically verbalized by defenders of offshore banking.
Defenders of offshore banking have criticized these attempts at regulation. They claim the process is prompted not by security and financial concerns, but by the desire of domestic banks and tax agencies to access the money held in offshore accounts. They cite the fact that offshore banking offers a competitive threat to the banking and taxation systems in developed countries, suggesting that Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)] countries are trying to stamp out competition.

Easiest Country to Open an Offshore Bank Account

Where is the easiest place to open an offshore bank account?
While there are a number of great emerging banking countries, Georgia is consistently a great place to start... even if you're a US citizen.
There are 18 banks in Georgia, with two being listed on the London Stock Exchange. You can generally bank in US dollars, euros, pounds, and Georgian lari, and you can benefit from higher interest rates.
Of course, merely opening an offshore bank account won't help you legally reduce your taxes, but it's a great start to diversifying yourself internationally.
-------
ABOUT NOMAD CAPITALIST
Andrew Henderson is the world's most sought-after consultant on legal offshore tax reduction, investment immigration, and global citizenship. He works exclusively with six- and seven-figure entrepreneurs and investors who want to "go where they're treated best".
Work with Andrew: http://bit.ly/Nomad-Capitalist-Application
Andrew has spent the last 11 years studying and personally implementing the Nomad Capitalist lifestyle, and has started offshore companies, opened offshore bank accounts, obtained multiple second passports, and purchased real estate in a more than 20 countries.
He has also spent years creating a behavior-based system that helps people get the results they want faster and with less resistance. Andrew believes that everyone can use offshore strategies to keep more of their own money, live a life of freedom, and grow their wealth faster.
About Andrew: http://nomadcapitalist.com/about/andrew-henderson/
Our website: http://www.nomadcapitalist.com
Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=nomadcapitalist
Buy Andrew's book: https://amzn.to/2QKQqR0
DISCLAIMER: The information in this video should not be considered tax, financial, investment, or any kind of professional advice. Only a professional diagnosis of your specific situation can determine which strategies are appropriate for your needs. Nomad Capitalist can and does not provide advice unless/until engaged by you.

WorldFinance interviews Dr Orlando Smith, Premier of the British Virgin Islands, about the British Virgin Islands International Finance Centre.
The British Virgin Islands is one of the most well-known offshore financial centres in the world: second to the Cayman Islands in assets under management, but first in number of businesses present. Dr Orlando Smith explains how the BVI International Finance Centre keeps the BVI an attractive jurisdiction for businesses and high net-worth individuals, and outlines the country's plans for financial services in 2013 and beyond.
For the full transcript visit http://www.worldfinance.com/videos/dr-orlando-smith-on-offshore-services-bvi-ifc-video
For more World Finance videos go to http://www.worldfinance.com/videos

Offshore Financial Centers or Tax Havens

What Makes A Good Tax Haven? After the banking crisis in Cyprus, what country might take its place as the next popular tax haven? David Greene talks to professor James Hines at the University of Michigan Law School to find out. http://www.npr.org/2013/03/28/175550945/what-makes-a-good-tax-haven
Haven sent - The effects of Cyprus on other tax haven
Many Russians and east Europeans have used these for the "tax-efficient" shuffling of shareholdings and profits, making creative use of Cyprus's network of tax treaties and its non-taxation of dividend payments or capital gains (except on property). These vehicles are also used for "round-tripping": moving funds abroad and then back home disguised as foreign investment that is eligible for tax breaks.
http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21574509-effects-cyprus-other-tax-havens-haven-sent
Five not-so-convincing ways that tax havens justify their existence - http://qz.com/67532/tax-havens-five-not-so-convincing-justifications/

Offshore Banking for Your Personal and Financial Privacy

Why ConsiderOffshore Banking for Your Personal and Financial Privacy in this Post9 / 11 Era? In this post 9 / 11 era you should consider offshore banking as a means of protecting your own and your family's personal and financial data and records from prying eyes. The point is, by moving assets offshore, you regain control. Within the United States, you must play according to federal rules — rules that get a little less citizen-oriented every year. Offshore, there are entire jurisdictions organized to play by your rules. You design the game, and you get to be the winner. There are major concerns concerning privacy. You will hear a staggering number of horror stories from people whose lives have been indelibly marked by corporate and governmental intrusion. If you're like many Americans, you probably assume that the Constitution ensures your unalienable right to privacy. Unfortunately, you're wrong. The Fourth Amendment — the national guarantee most often cited when people talk about confidentiality — specifies only that "the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause....". The men of 1787 who drafted this legal tenet clearly meant to protect privacy as it pertained to property. They wanted a right to unthreatened ownership of land and personal possession. Our founding fathers lived in a world where people shared common norms of morality. They didn't need to sort through the questions that plague a global information-service economy. They didn't need to worry about how one man might decide to use (or share) private financial information about another. They didn't foresee an era in which sophisticated communication systems could instantaneously interact, calling up, comparing and exchanging information about you or me within a matter of several seconds. In other words, they didn't foresee the 21st century post 9 /11. Today, the greatest threat to your individual privacy has nothing to do with property theft. It has to do with access to information about you and your activities. Where you live and work, the names of your children, your medical and psychiatric history, your arrest record, the phone numbers you dial, the amount of money you earn, the way you earn it, and how you report it to Uncle Sam after if s yours — these are the information tidbits that will undoubtedly remain stored in lots of different places as long as you keep your money within U.S. borders. An offshore financial involvement offers youand your family the one and only escape from this government-endorsed conspiracy. Just as you can legitimately make more money oversees than you could ever hope to earn in this country, you can also look forward to enjoying your foreign profits in an atmosphere of complete confidentiality. In money havens scattered from Hong Kong west to Aruba and south to the Netherlands Antilles, you can benefit from iron-clad secrecy laws that strictly forbid any bureaucratic review of your personal financial records. That means you can legally guard your assets from the overzealous inspection that has become part and parcel of U.S. banking and investment portfolio management. Visit www.globalbankingandfinance.com to learn more about offshore banking.

* The PanamaPapers are about 11.5M leaked documents that detail financial and attorney–client information for about 215K offshore entities ... The FinancialTimes also is reporting that GarthRitchie, head of the investment division, might be the next in line (to leave), as revenue of the division he oversees keeps plunging....

What is populism? ... On the right, Trump, Viktor Orbán, Rodrigo Duterte and Matteo Salvini are often characterised as populists – and so too is the Tea party movement that emerged out of the 2008 financial crisis. Twitter ... Recession ... The amount of money offshored by the financial elite is put at as much as £10 trillion – that’s a number with 13 zeroes....

* The PanamaPapers are about 11.5M leaked documents that detail financial and attorney–client information for about 215K offshore entities ... The FinancialTimes also is reporting that GarthRitchie, head of the investment division, might be the next in line (to leave), as revenue of the division he oversees keeps plunging....

What is populism? ... On the right, Trump, Viktor Orbán, Rodrigo Duterte and Matteo Salvini are often characterised as populists – and so too is the Tea party movement that emerged out of the 2008 financial crisis. Twitter ... Recession ... The amount of money offshored by the financial elite is put at as much as £10 trillion – that’s a number with 13 zeroes....

The time has come to think about new global taxes—on corporate incomes, offshore accounts, international financial transactions, billionaires’ net wealth, and pollution—to pay for an interconnected world under stress....

The documents revealed the existence of 214,488 secret offshore entities, based on financial spreadsheets, copies of passports, emails and corporate records from 1977 to 2015...Cameron to acknowledge he financially benefited from shares in an offshore account set up by his father....

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican has made more progress in its path to greater financial transparency by securing approval to join the European banking system that harmonizes electronic payments across the continent ...See's murky finances and its reputation as an offshore tax haven....

Prosecutors said they were investigating allegations that Germany’s biggest lender helped clients set up offshore companies in tax havens to “transfer money from criminal activities” to Deutsche Bank accounts ... Deutsche Bank was among hundreds of financial institutions whose names cropped up in the media reports....

Prosecutors said they were investigating allegations that Germany’s biggest lender helped clients set up offshore companies in tax havens to “transfer money from criminal activities” to Deutsche Bank accounts ... Deutsche Bank was among hundreds of financial institutions whose names cropped up in the media reports....

The PanamaPapers, compiled after a dump of millions of financial documents from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca & Co., revealed the existence of 214,488 secret offshore entities, based on financial spreadsheets, copies of passports, emails and corporate records from 1977 to 2015....

Markus Meinzer, director of the FinancialSecrecyTax Justice Network, said the "raid is long overdue because the PanamaPapers have amply illustrated how offshore law firms cooperated with banks in setting up structures with one single aim....